Underneath the Shadows
by Chronic Potterphile
Summary: Rose finds out a few things about Scorpius and is not sure that she wants to continue her relationship with him. (Companion fic to 'Battered Heart'. However, both fics can be read independently.)


**Story Notes:**

DISCLAIMER: I don't think I'm JK Rowling, because I'd be a lot richer then!

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**Author's Chapter Notes:**

Many thanks to Sophie/The owl for being a wonderful beta and getting back to me in a jiffy! :) She is a lovely person. :)

This was originally a LoveNote for Nadia/majestic_ginny (who also helped me with the title for this fic), which I've modified tremendously. Hope this version is better! :)

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**Underneath the Shadows**

"Drink up, Rose, it's your day!"

Rose sat in the grandly decorated Room of Requirement, glancing at the Butterbeer bottle in her boyfriend, Scorpius's hand and simultaneously watching Hugo, Albus and some of her other cousins chat merrily at a table nearby as they enjoyed the drinks and snacks. The Appleby Arrows had won against the Wimbourne Wasps and James, who played Seeker in the team, had caused the win. It was his first professional Quidditch match too, which gave the Potters much reason to celebrate. In happiness for his brother's success, Albus had asked all the Weasley cousins, Scorpius and a few other friends to gather at the Room of Requirement for a private friends-and-family party. There was Butterbeer, snacks and a lot of laughter as everyone celebrated gaily.

At the moment, however, Rose was amused at what Scorpius had said. She grinned at him. "Why is it _my_ day, now?"

He shrugged. "Well, your cousin's team won, didn't it? How _isn't_ it your day?"

Rose chuckled. "It's James's day, Scorpius. I'm just celebrating the fact."

"But he's not here, so technically, it's your day."

"That still doesn't make sense!" Rose insisted. "You even insisted that the second of May was my day."

"It is. Your parents helped defeat Voldemort, didn't they?"

Rose raised her eyebrows at him. "And _your_ parents allow you to use his name?"

"We don't exactly have these conversations at home," Scorpius replied. "And Potter told me to use the name." He nodded at Albus. "Apparently, his dad encourages its use."

"Yeah, Uncle Harry says not to fear a name," Rose agreed. "Apparently, it just increases your fear of the person."

"Sounds right," said Scorpius, taking a swig of the Butterbeer. He turned around at the Potters and Weasleys, who were still chatting and laughing merrily. "Come on, let's join the party."

"Are you sure?" Rose asked him. "You know it can get crazy, right?"

"Don't complain," Scorpius replied to her. "It's much better than having no siblings, and just one cousin, who visits very rarely."

She shook her head and took his hand. "Come on, then." As they stood up from their place, Scorpius leaned close to her.

"Actually, Rose, for me, every day is your day."

She frowned and turned to him at this. "That might be the cheesiest thing you've ever said to me. Yuck!"

They went ahead to the large group. Hugo was just cracking a joke and there were a few chuckles going around when Rose and Scorpius joined the group. However, on noticing Scorpius, Hugo discontinued his joke and narrowed his eyes at Scorpius. "What are _you_doing here? This is _our_ party for James."

"Your cousin invited me," Scorpius told him coolly. "And I'm your sister's boyfriend."

Hugo's ears went red as he turned to Rose. "Didn't I tell you to stay away from him?"

Rose crossed her arms. "Yes, but I don't think it's any of your business."

"It _is_ my business. You're my _sister_."

"I'm afraid that still doesn't make it your business," shrugged Rose.

"But-"

"Oh, come on, Hugo, Rose," said Roxanne, interrupting Hugo. "Stop fighting now! We're here to have fun!"

"If we just had to have unwanted people at the party, we'd do it in the Gryffindor Common Room," Hugo mumbled.

Angered, Rose stood up. "That's enough, Hugo!"

"No, it isn't-"

"Hugo, Rose, _stop_," said Lily, standing up too. "Really, you two-"

"For the _love of Merlin_, he beat up Annie's friend, Rose!" said Hugo, getting angry at his sister. "My mate saw it - and I haven't told Annie yet because she'd be upset. Why don't you fucking believe-"

"Language," Rose scolded her brother, before continuing, "And it isn't true."

Hugo threw up his hands. "Fine. Don't tell me I didn't warn you."

"I won't," said Rose sitting down again. "Because you needn't have warned me about a lie." She turned to Scorpius. "Come on; let's go somewhere where people will respect you more." She glared at her brother again before giving her hand to Scorpius.

"Oh, come on, Rose," said Lily before Scorpius could reply. "This party is for _James_. No-one meant to insult Scorpius." She glared at Hugo too. "Apologise, Hugo; you've upset her."

"You don't have a say on what I should and shouldn't do," Hugo muttered, folding his arms.

"Neither do you when it comes to Rose," said Lily. "Come on, just say 'sorry'. Don't ruin the party, you two!"

Hugo bared his teeth at Rose. "Sorry."

"Looks a lot like an apology," said Rose, frowning. "Come on, Scorpius-"

_"Hugo!"_ barked Lily.

"Okay, okay, I'm _really_ sorry!" Hugo sighed. "Will you stop creating a scene now, Rosie?"

Rose folded her arms and turned to Lily, who looked at her pleadingly. "You know this prat better than I do, Rose. Just accept it. He's incorrigible. We're having a party here. Let's enjoy it."

Rose sighed and sat down. "Fine."

There was silence for a long time.

"Good," said Roxanne suddenly, clapping her hands and trying to defuse the tension. "Let's play a game!"

"Truth or Dare?" Albus suggested, cottoning on.

"Nothing better than some Potter-Weasley gossip, eh?" asked Louis, chuckling. "I'm in."

"Me too," said Lily, and Rose and Hugo reluctantly agreed as well. In the end, everyone decided that they'd love to play the game.

"I'll start," said Lily, "Hugo, truth or dare?"

"Truth," Hugo replied to her.

Lily grinned. "Great! There's something I've wanted to know."

"Go on."

"Do you _like_ Annie Lawrence?"

Hugo raised an eyebrow. "Yes, because we're friends, but not in _that_ way."

"Now see, that would be a lie."

"It isn't a lie," said Hugo. "We're just best friends."

Lily shrugged, and Hugo turned to Scorpius, as Rose had expected him to. "Malfoy."

Scorpius grimaced. "Why am I not surprised? Truth."

Hugo smirked at him. "Tell us about Matt Grey, then. Did you or did you not beat him up?"

"I didn't beat him up."

"No cheating, Malfoy."

"Well, you lied about Lawrence."

"I didn't lie, but you accept that _you're_ lying, don't you?"

Rose watched, wondering what was going on, as Scorpius sighed. "Look, what happened between me and Grey is none of your business. Just ask Lawrence to stay away-"

"I'm saying no such thing to her. She really likes Grey and she'll be upset. But you beat him up with your Slytherin mates, didn't you?"

Scorpius bit his lip and Rose looked at him. "Is that true?"

He turned to her. "I'll explain-"

"You said it didn't happen, Scorpius."

"Do you trust me?"

"Until now," she said, looking hurt.

"Hey," he said, taking her hand, "I'll explain. I know you'll understand, Rose."

"I hope to," she sighed.

Scorpius turned to Hugo. "Are you happy? Truth or dare?"

Hugo sneered at him. "Dare."

"Dare to confess your true feelings to Lawrence."

"I just told her she's my best friend an hour ago. I'll go do that again."

"I said _true_ feelings."

"Yeah, I'm talking about those too," replied Hugo. "I'll do it in front of the whole school if you want."

"At dinner today."

"Sure. Truth or dare?"

"Oh, _come on,_" Lily spoke up, but Scorpius had already spoken.

"Dare."

"Fine. At dinner, while I declare to the school that Annie is my best friend, you will kiss the girl she caught you snogging while you were dating my sister. And you will stand up on the Slytherin table and do it so that the whole school can see you."

"Hugo!" Roxanne protested, while Scorpius looked shocked at this. Rose looked from her brother to her boyfriend, hoping this wasn't true.

"Wondering how I knew, Malfoy?" Hugo asked him, his sneer coming back.

"Is this true as well?" Rose asked Scorpius, her eyes widening.

Malfoy turned to Rose. "Rose… I'll explain…"

"Oh, joy, another thing that you can explain later," said Rose her temper rising. What the hell was happening? "What was it this time?" she asked Scorpius. "Are you sure I'll understand?"

"I didn't cheat."

"Then I must have misunderstood the definition of cheating."

"It was a kiss. And…" he looked embarrassed. "I was at the Hog's Head. You had left our date early, saying you had to study. I thought you didn't like me. I got drunk, and while walking back to the common room…" He hesitated. "She was standing at the marble staircases and…" He lowered his gaze, biting his lip. "I mistook her for you."

"Because so many people here look like me?" asked Rose exasperatedly, trying to hide the pain that was beginning to gnaw at the pit of her stomach.

Scorpius scratched his eye and said something that sounded horribly like 'same hair', which made Rose's heart skip a beat. _"What?"_ There was just one person whose hair was red and curly, and remotely resembled Rose's…

"N-nothing," Scorpius began, but he gave himself away when he looked at Lucy, who turned red.

"Sorry, Rosie, he just came at me… I d-didn't know…"

"I'm not mad at you," Rose told her, and turned to Scorpius. "I had actually just come back to study, you know."

"I know now…" he mumbled. "I'm sorry."

She crossed her arms. "Anything else I should know?"

"N-nothing…" he said, looking down at the floor uncertainly.

"Really?" Hugo asked him, leering unkindly. "Is that it? What about the girl you were still dating when you got together with my sister?"

_"Hugo!"_ Lily began, but no-one listened to her. Rose's cousins looked plain shocked: Lily seemed to be the only one who could remotely speak.

Rose raised her eyebrows at the new piece of information, the pain rising up from her stomach, bringing a sickening sensation with it. "Scorpius, please tell me that's a lie."

"I… Amanda was just taking time to break-up…"

Rose bit her lip, feeling horrible. "Did she know-?"

"She didn't," Scorpius muttered.

"So you sneaked around behind both our backs." Rose felt positively sick.

"Listen, Rose-"

"And," said Hugo, folding his arms, and before Scorpius could completely apologise, "tell Rosie what you referred to her as before you were dating."

"How does it matter?" Scorpius snapped at him. "You're having fun, aren't you?"

"I'm not having fun watching my sister get hurt," said Hugo. "But I need her to know the truth. At least she'll realise what a bastard you actually are."

"Yeah, sure, and you didn't tell Lawrence about Grey because she'd be _upset_. I can understand, because people usually care for _friends_ more than family," said Scorpius sarcastically.

"This has got nothing to do with me and Annie-" began Hugo, but Rose interrupted him.

"What is he saying?" she asked Scorpius. "What did you-?"

"It's… I didn't-"

"He called you 'small boobs', Rosie," said Hugo, glaring at Scorpius. "He had bet thirty Galleons with his friends saying you'd say yes if he asked you out. That's why he asked you out in the first place. And that's why he never split with his first girlfriend."

Rose's jaw dropped as she turned to Scorpius. "Is - is that true?"

He didn't reply to her, but Rose got her answer. The sickening pain that had been gnawing at her insides rose to her throat, forming a lump. She turned to Hugo. "Thanks, Hugo, and I'm sorry." As tears blurred her vision, she got up from her place and walked out of the Room of Requirement, ignoring Scorpius, who was calling her name.

It was raining outside. Big heavy drops of water seemed to be coming down with force, but Rose didn't care, as she made her way to the Entrance Hall, and then ran out of the castle the moment she realised she could hear Scorpius following her.

She ran into the torrential rain, her salty tears mingling with the clear water from the skies. She sprinted down the slope to the lake, trying not to slip on the wet path. She could still hear Scorpius follow her, his footsteps splashing against the small puddles of water, but she wished he'd stop following her. She didn't want to look at him again; she couldn't believe her folly in falling for such a person.

"Rose."

His voice was muffled due to the roar of the wind, and the sound of the rain hitting rooftops, but she could hear the desperation. However, she no longer believed that it was genuine. He was a bloody liar.

"Rose, listen to me."

"Leave me alone, Scorpius."

She was at the bottom of the slope. Scorpius hadn't called out to her again, but she knew he was still right behind her. She hoped he'd go away. He was vile, he was a terrible person, and Rose didn't want to be associated with him at all. She wondered how it had her so long to realise that he was such an arse.

"Rose, please, let me explain!"

"STOP FOLLOWING ME!" Rose bellowed at him stopping in her tracks and turning around, as a sob escaped her along with all the anger. "GO!"

"We need to talk," he said, stepping ahead.

"I don't want to talk to you," replied Rose, showing him her back as she continued on her path. She needed to think. She needed time alone. She needed to kill that bastard for everything he had done to her. She was such a fool! Such an idiot! She had thought that Scorpius - _Scorpius Malfoy_ - was a good person against everything that everyone had warned her about. She had maligned Hugo when he was right all along.

A firm, wet hand grasped at her forearm and turned her around again. Suddenly, she was staring at Scorpius, her mind urging her to plant a tight slap across her face. He didn't see the additional tears that fell down her face at the thought, though, and she thanked the rain for that as she glared anyway. She had to be brave. This would hurt, but she wasn't weak. She'd ask him to fuck off just the way he deserved it.

"Why don't you just go away?" she said, baring her teeth at him. "Do I look like I want to discuss any of those things?"

"Please listen to me."

"No."

"You know that Grey was dating Melissa, right?"

Melissa was Scorpius's cousin. Rose looked away. "So you beat him up for that."

"No," he insisted. "He abused Melissa. That's why I beat him up."

"I don't believe you."

"You can talk to Melissa _right now_ if you want. She was hurt really badly that day. She had to be taken to Madam Bones, and Grey said to us that she'd fallen down a flight of stairs. She told me the truth later on. Do you think she'd lie about this?"

"I don't know," Rose muttered, "she's _your_ cousin."

"And that day after our date at Hogsmeade," Scorpius continued, "it was a genuine mistake. I'm sorry. Lucy slapped me away too. She didn't have a hand in this."

"I believe only Lucy," said Rose.

"And I was dating Amanda when you and I started to date… but… and that other thing about the bet…" he sighed. "I was an idiot, Rose. I'm sorry. I'll apologise every day of my life…"

Rose did not reply to him. She merely tried to free herself from Scorpius's grasp. "Let me go."

He looked furious, but he didn't let go. Instead, his other arm wound itself around Rose's waist and he pulled her close, hungrily placing his lips on hers. The kiss was soft and slow, and tasted of desperation. Scorpius seemed to really want Rose to listen to him. She could feel a sob erupt in her throat. This felt so good…

She pulled away and shook her head, as Scorpius emerged from the kiss, looking confused and miserable. "You're not doing me a _favour_ explaining those things!" Rose exclaimed. "You lied to me!"

"I'm sorry," he repeated.

"Just go, Scorpius," said Rose, pushing him away.

_"No!"_ The confusion on his face had turned into anger again. He clenched his jaw grabbed Rose by the shoulders, bringing his face close to hers. "Listen to me!"

_"No,"_ said Rose, trying to stay calm. "And I would appreciate it if you could let me be, because you're hurting me."

He shut his eyes, pushing her away gently. "Sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I just want you to hear me out."

"Should I walk away, so I don't have to waste my breath refusing again?"

He folded his arms. "Well then, I'd suggest that you remember that we all have pasts."

"I don't," Rose said, shuddering slightly. "I've never done any of the things that you have."

"Oh," he said, brushing away his wet hair from his eyes, "that validates everything, doesn't it? Why did you choose to date me then, Rose? You could have just gone off with a bloody goody-two-shoes, then, and we wouldn't be having this conversation at all!"

"I don't know why I dated you," said Rose bitterly. "I never should have." The rain was still covering up her tear tracks and she sighed as she started to make her way to the lake again. Scorpius, however, jogged up to her and came and stood in front of her again.

"Let me be," choked Rose. "Please."

"You won't listen to me at all, will you?" he asked her, narrowing his eyes. "Well then, I put my foot down too. I love you, Rose, and I'm not about to give-up on you because of something that your baby brother said, that doesn't even matter now."

Before she could react to what he had just said, he came forward to kiss her again. But she moved away. He had just said something that she wanted to hear for a second time. "What did you just say?" she asked him.

"I love you," he said, not bothering to pretend as though he didn't know what she was talking about. He came forward, and she let him kiss her this time. After a minute, Scorpius broke apart, taking her hands in his. "I am not that person anymore, Rose, I thought you'd understand. I told you the truth about Matt Grey - your brother is always going to side with Lawrence. She's in love with Grey, and Hugo is in love with her - Merlin help them with that, but I'm just saying… the rest are all from the past. I wouldn't do any of that again."

She looked down, finally letting a full-blown sob escape her. Scorpius put an arm around her waist again and pulled her to himself, and she clutched onto his sopping shirt, resting her head against his chest as he stroked her hair. "Do you forgive me?" he asked her.

"No," she sniffed.

"I - I understand." His voice sounded a little throaty. "But you know I love you, right?"

She broke away. "I want to, Scorpius, I really do. It's just that… I'll need time, okay?"

He nodded, biting his lip and then coming forward again, pecking her on her lips. "I love you," he whispered, resting his forehead on hers. He didn't seem to feel like he'd said it enough.

Rose didn't feel like she'd heard it enough either. "Say that again," she breathed, shutting her eyes and feeling his wet forehead against hers. The rain was still pouring down in torrents, and for a while, as they stood like that, foreheads connected, and hands held, the sounds of the rains seemed to be the only sounds all around. And then, Scorpius spoke again.

"I love you," he offered. Rose cupped his face in her hands and kissed him this time.

"I love you too, Scorpius," she murmured, breaking away. "And if you give me time, I _will_forgive you. Soon."

He nodded, and gave her hand one last squeeze before slowly making his way up the slope to the castle.

**The End**

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Chapter End Notes:

The Hugo/Annie/Grey story is called 'Battered Heart' and if anyone is interested what exactly happened between Hugo and his 'best friend', you can find out there. :)

That said, reviews are love. Don't let that little box below get lonely!

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**Guest review response:**

To be honest, I'm actually considering quitting HP fanfic writing once I finish my WIPs but if I do write more, I will write about these people. :) Thank you! So happy that you enjoyed it! :)


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